What is the best way to handle PTSD?

I've been diagnosed PTSD due to childhood thru adulthood trauma. I'm on medications for it but I still keep having the flashbacks and the terrifying nightmares associated with it. I'm having difficulty functioning in life because of this. any ideas as to how to make them stop? any ideas will be greatly appreciated. thank you, Dwight

Dwight are you in therapy?

I am sorry that your experiencing flashbacks, they are very troubling to understand.

What helped me is paying attention to the visions when they happen. There are a lot of details in flashbacks, pictures and sounds and colors and even smells. They are amazingly real. But when you have them try to just concentrate on what your seeing in them, everything. After the flashback happens stop and think about what you saw in the flashback. It is important that decide to think about is as if you were watching a movie and was seeing something that is not happening to you now. Make a decision that your NOT going to be afraid of what you see, instead your going to pay attention to it. In these flashbacks are visions that you had when you experienced them only you were experiencing a lot of emotion and fear at the time, even might have felt you were in danger. Once you have thought about what your seeing in the flashback try to calm down and concentrate on just the images, these images can be triggers. For example one of my flashbacks was a lot of doors opening closing and I was very upset in the flashback. I could also hear the sounds of the doors and could even remember that these doors were in a home I grew up in. And the story that went with the flashbacks is that I was running through the doors very,very frightened, running away from my brother whom I felt was going to harm me badly. That was when I realized that the sounds of doors triggered me, and I would fill with anxiety.

By observing the flashbacks and even writing down what was in them you can then remember the event that might have frightened you and remind yourself that you did survive it and it is not happening now and you can work on consciously telling yourself that your ok now. Therefore you can help prevent that flashback from happening again. And you will also find out triggers that you may have that you never realized before.

It is all about information, a reminder of an upsetting event that you can now consciously accept reminding yourself that it may have been scary then but you are ok now. It takes time but you do need to make a journal. Try not to let new fear be added to the flashbacks. Calm yourself down let yourself see them and know that your ok now.

It has helped me lower the occurance of flashbacks. I will always remember the flashbacks as we can never forget things we experience and see, but we can come to a peace with these memories knowing that we did survive them.

Open Eyes

Dwight, I believe it all comes down to how much effort and determination we have.

We have lived into adulthood using the same 'failed', so to speak, ways of coping with stressors and triggers. We must seek out help to get use back to healthy ways of dealing with things. We need guidance.

I believe that flashbacks and nightmares come because there are unresolved internal issues (how we come to accept and move forward), we may feel invalidated or have a sense that we as continually victimized because the perp or others have to accepted or validated how we feel. But, of course, all of that is probably just part of it.

It's a journey to say the least. Good luck and keep the faith and keep progress at the for front of our minds and goals.

<3

(((dwight))) our backgrounds are similar. only seeing a T has made a difference. PTSD is a disease that requires professional care. feel welcome to PM me if you like. all the best to you!

I see a psychyatrist once a month but I have no therapy as of yet.

I recently did a drug free program. I have PTSD too but the program's approach is to externalise the feelings (mostly anger) at the abusers from your childhood. Working wonders for me.

It is also important that we don't convince ourselves that we are bad, life is bad, we cant deal with our condition. I am not saying we just get over it, what i am saying is it can be addressed but it does take time and therapy is so very helpful. You need to get your past out, remember that you did survive it and you WILL learn ways to continue on in your life.

I am working on that myself, it is not easy, some days for me have been hard. However I have had days were I do feel better. You do need help to address it.

The support here is good as well, but we are not therapists, we are all working on our issues and some are further ahead than others, know more than others and we share and support each other.

Open Eyes

Hi dwight...Yup! Just woke out of one of those--you know?

All's I can tell ya is how I do it. History goes back before memory (2 yo) now 56 yo. 41 years in therapy...therapy most important...couldn't ever stabilize without.

At this moment, I am sipping herbal tea (no caffeine), breathing deeeeeply, s l o w l y in through the nose (fill yourself up) now, control breath...OUT through the mouth.

Concentrate on your breathing...nothing else exists right now. Empty your mind when in the panic mode of shades of remembrance (flashing); just breathe.

You can go over it with your therapist next time...or, if you feel you can, write all in a journal...interesting to go back and read the old entries...give you more insight.

Helps me a great deal. 1. Breathe 2. empty mind 3. write it down 4. herbal teas 5. see therapist (one trained in PTSD) regularly~~~wish you well~~pax

Postscript: There is no way to "stop" them for me...I have only learned to live with them.
Through therapy, and much work, I have made some peace with them. Agree with Penny, purple and unhappy --hope you get a therapist really soon! pm me if you need to.